MALACHI FAGAN-WALCOTT has revealed that tracking the progress of star former team-mates at youth international level helps him aim for the top in his career.

The Pars star, on-loan from Cardiff City, took a trip down memory lane after a photo surfaced on social media that showed him on the team-sheet for England's under-15s.

Fagan-Walcott was in the Three Lions' starting line-up for a match with Belgium at St George's Park in 2017, which also features current Chelsea star, Cole Palmer, and Manchester City's Lewis Fiorini, now a Scotland under-21 international on loan at Charlton Athletic.

Also featuring, but on the bench, was one of the world's brightest midfield players in Real Madrid and England star Jude Bellingham, whose talent Fagan-Walcott described as "a joke", and Bayern Munich's Jamal Musiala, who pledged his international future to Germany, for whom he has 27 senior caps.

"That was a team! A very good team," Fagan-Walcott reflected.

"All the England camps I went to were fun. I used to love that point of the season. We had a massive group chat and everyone used to love getting selected. The vibe was fun, but the quality was unbelievable as well.

"I’m 2002 and Jude is 2003, and Jude, Jamal and Karamoko Dembélé were up with us. They were the only three and I didn’t know that could happen at that age.

"Under-15s is the first camp you have with England, so they got pushed up into their first camp and you could tell from there.

"Jude was tiny compared to what he is now, but you could tell he was a joke.

"Jamal was unbelievable as well, and it was only matter of time before they were going on to do what they’re doing now. Even the likes of Cole Palmer, he was amazing as well.

"They were always so much smaller and skinnier. I was always tall and Jude was tiny.

"I’ve got videos of him when we used to mess about, and you look at him then and you look at him now, and you’re like, ’wow, what have you been fed!’.

"He looks like he’s been in the game for ages. He’s so mature now. It’s good to see."

Fagan-Walcott, 22, continued: "I still keep in contact with the majority of them and it’s good to see people doing so well.

"There was a list on Twitter that I got tagged into and it was about where everyone is now. It’s crazy to see where people are.

"Some people who were the best in that squad at that age, and are now playing in the fifth-tier. I thought, ‘football’s kind of harsh sometimes’ because they were unbelievable.

"Yunus Musah was captain and you could kind of tell he was going to have a good career. He’s gone on to play for AC Milan and the USA."

When asked if those players inspire him to make the most of his own career, Fagan-Walcott replied: "It’s both.

"You can look at the ones who have dropped down the ranks and you think anything’s possible because of how they were, but then you also look at Jude and Jamal and you think anything’s possible if they can reach those heights.

"You can look at it both ways.

"I’ll talk to Yunus and Jude and people like that, and ask them what it’s like at the top of the game. Sometimes it’s just banter but it’s good to know, just to help myself, really.

"It’s always good to see boys that you’ve known or grown up with get to that sort of level.

"Watching them playing on a Wednesday night (in big European matches) is unbelievable."